Professional Development Conference for Undergrads Interested in Graduate Training in Family & Child Sciences by Richard Fabes
Now in its fourth year, the annual Professional Development Conference for Undergraduates Interested in Graduate Training in Family and Child Sciences has reached out to talented undergraduates who are considering graduate programs in family and child sciences. With funding provided by the Cowden Endowment to the School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University (ASU), approximately 60 undergraduates have participated to date and another 20 will participate in this year’s upcoming conference (September 24-26, 2010).
The conference brings undergraduate students together from across the US and Canada who are seniors and who are planning to pursue graduate doctoral training in a discipline related to family and child sciences (child development, family studies, psychology, education, etc.). Students’ travel, lodging, and meals are entirely paid for and they arrive on the ASU campus to spend the weekend (arriving on Friday and leaving Sunday afternoon) involved in intensive discussions about applying and preparing for graduate school, where the field is going, interdisciplinary research and education, and general discussions with faculty and graduate students in the field. Conference attendees learn about diverse graduate programs, but the conference focuses on research-oriented programs leading to PhDs and research-based careers. The conference allows students to learn more about becoming an academic and helps prepare them for graduate school and beyond.
Student responses to the conference have been overwhelmingly positive. Moreover, awareness about the conference has increased over the 4 years of its existence and the number of applications reflects this, more than doubling since its inception to over 120 applications this past year (for 20 slots). In addition, the quality of the students applying also has increased.
The conference provides a small-group setting for the students and there are opportunities to meet and talk to faculty, graduate students, and each other. Students come from all over North America and represent a diverse group who differ in their backgrounds and the schools they come from (e.g., large and small schools, research and liberal arts programs) and in their college majors. Despite the differences in backgrounds and experiences, they all share a desire to apply to research-oriented doctoral programs in the coming year.
The students consistently rate their experiences at the conference very positively. They indicate that the conference helped them develop a better understanding of graduate school and the graduate application process. They enjoy the informal opportunities to talk to faculty and graduate students in a small focused setting. Follow-up surveys of the students revealed that the majority of those in attendance applied to graduate school and many are now enrolled in graduate programs. In addition, students indicated that the conference helped them clarify their research interests and goals and that they felt more confident about their career choices and options. As one student noted “There is a new feeling of clarity in my life – I’ve known what my interests and talents are, and now I know how to make them part of both my immediate and my future plans.” This is exactly the goal of our conference and we work hard to make sure that the focus is on the students and their goals and interests. For more information about the conference, you can check out the conference’s webpage at http://www.asu.edu/ssfd/conf. You can also read the responses of students from previous years.
Each year the conference gets better and we plan to continue to provide this opportunity for years to come. Look for the call for applications for the 5th annual conference to appear in November of 2010 (due March 1, 2011) and please encourage your students to consider applying.
